Goaldi Mosque (গোয়ালদি মসজিদ)

Goaldi Mosque stands in the village of Goaldi, about half a mile northeast of Panam Nagar in Sonargaon, Narayanganj district. Sonargaon was a mint town and often a royal seat of the Bengal Sultanate, and this is one of the few medieval buildings that survive there.

An inscription dates the mosque to 15 Shaban 925 AH, which is 12 August 1519. It was founded by Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah. By the 20th century the dome and most of the walls had collapsed, leaving only the western qibla wall standing, and the Department of Archaeology restored it in 1975.

Round towers and a basalt mihrab

The mosque is a small square building of the enclosed square type, with a prayer room about 4.9 metres on each side and walls between about 1.65 and 2.3 metres thick. A single dome rests on squinches, and the cornice curves gently. Its round corner towers are unusual, as most mosques of the period have octagonal ones. The east front has three arched doorways framed by panels carved with niches and hanging lamp motifs.

Inside, the qibla wall has three mihrabs. The central one is carved in black basalt with hanging lamp designs, and the two side mihrabs are made of brick with fine terracotta work.